New York, NY – November 15, 2016 - IIC Partners (www.iicpartners.com), one of the world’s top ten global executive search organisations, announced three recipients of the 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award during its Global Conference in Warsaw last month. The award was presented to Barry O’Connor of MERC Partners (www.merc.ie) in Dublin, Jussi Holopainen of JFP Executive Search (www.jfp.fi) in Helsinki and Lachy Rhodes of CurzonTrinitas (www.curzontrinitas.com) in London.

Barry O’Connor has been a Consultant and Partner at MERC Partners for 20 years. He started his managerial career at Black & Decker and worked as Industrial Relations Manager of an Aer Lingus subsidiary, before joining Ireland’s largest start-up organisation in the mid-1980s, Shamrock Apparel, as Human Resources Director. Immediately before joining MERC Partners in 1996, he was General Manager Human Resources & Administration with Almarai Company, now one of the largest dairy/food organisations in EMEA. Barry served as Managing Partner of MERC Partners from 2008 to 2013 and was a founding member of the IIC Partners Human Resources Practice Group.

Jussi Holopainen has nearly 20 years of experience holding various senior management positions within the pharmaceuticals sector. Throughout his career, he has led several multi-national organisations and has been stationed in Finland, Denmark, the UK and Mexico. In 2005, Jussi joined JFP Executive Search in Helsinki. He served as Leader of the IIC Partners Life Sciences & Healthcare Practice Group from 2009 to 2014. Jussi currently serves as Senior Business Advisor to JFP Executive Search and holds several Board positions within the life sciences sector.

Lachy Rhodes has spent over 30 years in executive search. After careers in the Army and oil industry, Lachy joined Russell Reynolds in London in 1986. Throughout his executive search career, he has focused on Board level appointments across the international energy sector. In 1996, Lachy was a Founding Partner of The Curzon Partnership (now CurzonTrinitas). He served twice as a Board Member of IIC Partners between 2000 and 2009 and founded the IIC Partners Energy Practice Group.

Ruth Curran, Global Chair of IIC Partners congratulated all three executive search veterans on their service and contribution to IIC Partners. “This year, IIC Partners celebrates its 30th year as an executive search organisation and it is thanks to the hard work and dedication of Barry, Jussi and Lachy that we are in such a strong position today. All three are extremely successful executive search professionals and leaders in their fields, who have contributed greatly to the organisation. I have been lucky to have had the pleasure to work with them and I am delighted they have been rightly honored in this way,” Curran said.

About IIC Partners

IIC Partners (www.iicpartners.com) is one of the top 10 executive search organisations in the world. The network of “Independent International Consultants” is made up of 52 offices in 34 countries, all considered to be leaders in the geographic and industry markets they serve. For more information, please visit www.iicpartners.com or contact Thaddeus Andres, Senior Marketing & Communications Manager, at tandres@iicpartners.com.